Exposure to toxic metals like cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), chromate (CrO42-), arsenite (As) (III), and arsenate (AsO43-) are known to induce various diseases that are detrimental to human health. One of NIEHS emphasis areas is the development of "Chelation chemistry that can serve as the foundation for therapies to ameliorate aberrant metal accumulations and the effects of toxic exposures." In response to PA-06-181, this Exploratory/Developmental R21 proposal will develop and evaluate novel biocompatible chelating materials that will lead to a breakthrough in the field of chelation chemistry, specifically for heavy metals in humans after environmental exposure. This work addresses a key mission of NIEHS since the institute "has primary responsibility with respect to toxic metal exposure from environmental sources." Complete chelation therapies encompass (1) chelating the metal ions in the gastrointestinal fluids in order to limit systemic absorption of ingested materials and (2) chelating the metal ions in blood that have been absorbed systemically from all routes of exposure (oral, dermal and inhalation). Since the 1940s, in vivo toxic metal immobilization has involved the use of ethylenediamine-tetraacetate (EDTA) or dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) following metal exposures. However, these chelation agents still have many disadvantages and low efficacy. They are also not effective in removing Cd and toxic anions such as chromate and arsenate. We hypothesize that functionalized silica (SAMMS) and magnetic nanoparticles, both proven in our numerous preliminary data and publications to be highly efficient and stable sorbents for removal of toxic metals in environmental cleanups, can also be used effectively in biological matrices for metal decorporation in humans. They will be better than the currently FDA-approved EDTA and DMSA in terms of higher affinity, specificity and capacity. In addition, we hypothesize that these new chelating materials will exhibit a faster removal rate, less toxicity, and overall their use will result in lower costs of treatment. To test the hypothesis, SAMMS will be evaluated for toxic metal removal from gastrointestinal (GI) tract while magnetic nanoparticles will be evaluated for extracorporeal chelation of toxic metals from whole blood. Differing organic groups will be carefully designed to have a high affinity for the target metals. Assessment of chelating performance, material stability, protein fouling, and cell uptake of the nanomaterials will be done in vitro using relevant physicochemical forms and concentrations of the metals appropriate to acute and chronic human exposure of the toxic metals. Refinement of both materials to increase their stability as well as minimize protein fouling and cell uptake will also be performed. The results will form a strong foundation for our continued effort with in vivo studies using animal models in a future R01 project. Exposure to toxic metals like cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), chromate (CrO42-), arsenite (As(III)), and arsenate (AsO43-) are known to induce various diseases that are detrimental to human health. One of NIEHS emphasis areas is the development of "Chelation chemistry that can serve as the foundation for therapies to ameliorate aberrant metal accumulations and the effects of toxic exposures." In response to PA-06-181, this exploratory R21 proposal will develop and evaluate novel biocompatible nanomaterials that will lead to a breakthrough in the field of chelation therapies of the above heavy metals by substantially outperforming the current FDA-approved chelating agents.